The County of San Diego and Voice & Viewpoint last Wednesday, Nov. 16, joined together for a one-hour town hall that addressed issues surrounding Behavioral Health Services (BHS) in the region and in particular within disadvantaged communities.
The virtual town hall was moderated by Voice & Viewpoint Publisher Dr. John Warren and County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Executive Director Nick Macchione.
The presentation was led by Dr. Luke Bergmann, Director of BHS, and also included from the County Cecily Thornton-Stearns, Assistant Director, Chief Program Officer for BHS, Nadia Privara, Assistant Director, Chief Strategy and Finance Officer for BHS, Kat Briggs, Chief of Agency Operations for BHS Community Engagement, Elizabeth Bustos, HHSA Agency Equity Liaison, and Crystal Skerven, Central Regional Community Coordinator for HHSA Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities.
After welcoming and stage-setting remarks from Macchione and Dr. Warren, Dr. Bergmann
went through a brief presentation that covered the efforts to shift the way behavioral health services are provided to a model that is built on prevention, to help people before they reach a crisis stage.
Dr. Bergmann also discussed how the County is building a system that will make behavioral
health care more accessible and work to offer in partnership with the school districts mental health screenings to students in all middle schools.
Also emphasized by Dr. Bergmann during the conversation was the development of the
Community Experience Partnership, a collaboration between BHS and the University of
California, San Diego, which will result in the creation of a Behavioral Health Equity Index.
The Equity Index combines annual census data, care utilization and community survey data with data collected, in collaboration with communities and community coalitions across the County. By updating it annually, the County will better be able to track inequities and changes in equity, over time.
The Community Experience Partnership dashboards are available to view at:
www.communityexperiencepartnership.com
For the rest of the hour, the discussion was wide-ranging with moderation provided by Dr.
Warren and Macchione.
Among the topics covered were behavioral health support for schools, children and youth, peer resources, assertive community treatment (ACT) teams, the need for urgent care services for mental health and the piloting of Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, or CARE Court, to encourage those with mental illnesses to accept services.
A technical glitch prevented many people from joining the town hall. All individuals affected
were sent a link to the video recording. Those seeking information on topics covered, or not
covered in the town hall can submit a question at bit.ly/VoiceTownHall and receive an answer back by email.
For more information about San Diego County Behavioral Health Services Google “San Diego County BHS” or visit the Behavioral Health Services website:
https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/hhsa/programs/bhs/.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a behavioral health, mental health, or substance use crisis, please call the Access and Crisis Line (ACL) at 1-888-724-7240 to speak to a representative who can help connect you to resources. The ACL operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and provides language interpreter services in 200 different languages.
If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 9-1-1.
The full video of the town hall and the slide show are available on the Voice & Viewpoint
website, sdvoice.info.
The third of the three scheduled Voice and Viewpoint town halls will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 14. The focus will be Homeless Solutions & Equitable Communities featuring Barbara Jiménez, Community Operations Officer. More information and registration is available at bit.ly/VoiceTownHall.
Article courtesy of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.
NAMES, TITLES, PHONE NUMBERS
Dr. Luke Bergmann
Director Behavioral Health Services
(619) 563-2765
Cecily Thornton-Stearns
Assistant Director, Chief Program Officer
Behavioral Health Services
(619) 563-2700
Nadia Privara
Assistant Director, Chief Strategy and Finance Officer
Behavioral Health Services
(619) 563-2700
Kat Briggs
Chief of Agency Operations, Community Engagement
Behavioral Health Services
(619) 563-2700
Elizabeth Bustos
Agency Equity Liaison
Health and Human Services Agency
(619) 515-6587
Crystal Skerven
Central Regional Community Coordinator
Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities
(760) 607-29
Full video here:
